Call it a physical manifestation of Papazian’s current goal, which is to eliminate backward motion from his combat vocabulary.

A slightly inconsiderate one to Pague, but oh well.

“You’re not going to see a lot of running in this fight,” Papazian on Thursday told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “That looked like running. You’re going to see me pushing. I’m going to dictate the fight.”

Stuff gets real Friday night at UFC on FX 3, which takes place at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla. Papazian vs. Pague serves on the FUEL TV-televised prelims following fights on Facebook and the evening’s main card on FX.

The reason Papazian is so amped for this fight is because of what happened in his UFC debut. Standout Mike Easton forced him to spend much of the fight circling and countering.

Papazian feels he landed more shots and did more damage, but judges disagreed, awarding Easton the majority decision. Worse, his hard-nosed effort wasn’t rewarded with a bonus. Heavyweights Pat Barry and Christian Morecraft took that.

A bonus check for $15,000 did later arrive in the mail, so that made him feel better. But he resolved not to make his opponent look better by fighting on the defense.

“I just keep coming, even if you hurt me,” he said. “I don’t lay and pray, I don’t stick and move. That’s not my style. My training partners tell me to slow down, and that’s just not who I am. I’m a showman, and I give fans a show.”

The clash of foreheads was just one part of that show.

Is Papazian taking an idea to the extreme? Maybe. Few would say that it’s not the direction the move, but what you do to your opponent, that decides a fight. Look at Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz at UFC 143 (and save the hate mail).

Papazian, however, is set in this new direction. And Pague, who’s a veteran of “The Ultimate Fighter 14″ and looks for his first octagon win on Friday, will just have to deal with it.

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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